For example, a recent information terminal such as a cellular phone is capable of adding by downloading programs for implementing services, such as applications and contents that can be used in such an information terminal, from a dedicated server of a vendor via a network.
Further, recently, the services such as the applications and contents have come to be available also in an information terminal for vehicles mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile. To add a new function, such a vehicle-mounted information terminal would also download a program for implementing those services from the dedicated server of the vendor via the network.
At the same time, a proposal has been made to call attention to the handling of a vehicle by limiting automatically services available by the information terminal according to the travelling of the vehicle when the information terminal for use of such services is used in the vehicle interior while the vehicle is travelling. Such an information terminal (application performing device) is described in Patent Document 1.
As shown in FIG. 17 of the present application, the information terminal (application performing device) described in Patent Document 1 includes a vehicle-mounted application performing device 1, which is formed by, for example, a car navigation system. The application performing device 1 is configured to download an executable application program from a server 2 of a vendor. When downloading the application, a list screen of applications distributed from the server 2 appears on a display device (not shown) of the application performing device 1 so that a user may operate the application performing device 1 to select any desired one of those displayed applications. By such an operation for application selection, an application distribution request is made to the server 2 from an application addition unit 11 of the application performing device 1 having a function to wirelessly communicate with the server 2, so that an application that responds to this request is distributed from the server 2. The distributed application is acquired by the application addition unit 11 and added into an application storage unit 12 of the application performing device 1.
The application performing device 1 further includes, in an application management unit 15 for managing operations of an application, an operation control unit 14 for controlling the operations of the application program based on a result of detection by a vehicle condition detection unit 13, which detects travelling of the vehicle. The operation control unit 14 provides an application performing unit 16 with permission to actuate an application program, which may affect handling of the vehicle because complicated handling of the application program is required, only when it is determined that the vehicle is not travelling. As a result, when the vehicle mounted with the application execution device 1 is travelling, use of an application that may affect the handling of the vehicle is restricted so that the driver will concentrate on handling the vehicle.